D70 with 18-70mm or 400D with Sigma 17-70mm

[Hyena]

Hey guys,
I've got a mate who's looking at getting a 400D and a Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4.5 DC Macro but I've also given him the option of buying my D70 kit.

Aside from the 400D being new and higher res and the sigma being f2.8 vs f3.5 at the short end, would it be worthwhile paying a bit extra for it over a D70 with 18-70mm kit lens?

The Nikon 18-70mm has a pretty good name, but from what I've seen the sigma gets a a pretty good wrap too (I've done a search but can't find anything on the forums here)

Any thoughts ?

[Yi-P]

Hi Jay, long time no speak

Little extra for the D70 kit? I thought the D70 is very cheap now compared to the 400D?

Why not a D80 with the 18-70? Or D60? They're the new stuffs out there and D70 is something from the past. It still works like a charm, but might be harder to learn from it than those D60/80...

What's his budget by the way?

[Hyena]

Hi Yip, yeah its been a while
I meant paying a little extra for the 400d, over and above the older Nikon.
The budget is around a grand for the canon but I've offered him my whole D70 kit for the same price (nikon 18-70 and 50mm + tamron 70-300, bag, filters, accessories etc)

I guess excluding the price difference and other lenses and accessories, the question is which is the better camera combo: 400D with sigma 17-70 or D70 with 18-70 ?

[Yi-P]

Let him feel both cameras, including nikon's newer d60/80... he will decide within minutes